Kolkata: Firhad Hakim took charge as mayor in 2018 amid a severe water crisis in several parts of the city, particularly in the Tollygunge-Jadavpur belt, parts of Behala, and neighborhoods off EM Bypass. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) set a target in 2018 to reduce dependence on groundwater for residents of the Tollygunge-Jadavpur belt by 60% within two years. According to estimates, the KMC water supply department draws 24.3 million gallons of groundwater daily for at least 20 wards under the Tollygunge-Jadavpur assembly constituencies.
After former Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee directed Hakim in 2018 to supply potable water to residents of the Tollygunge-Jadavpur belt, the KMC adopted water augmentation projects with a deadline to complete them by 2026. Although the task remains unfinished, the civic body has completed a major part of the special project, and works are still ongoing. The KMC undertook the augmentation of the Dhapa water treatment plant and the construction of a new water treatment plant at Dhalai Bridge, Garia. To ensure residents benefit from these upgrades, construction of around 40 semi-underground water reservoirs and capsule water booster pumping stations across the belt was approved in 2019.
"I have tried my best to give citizens potable water, especially in the belt where people still depend on groundwater. I have not been able to complete the projects, but they will be completed in the near future, I hope," said Hakim. He added that both the Dhapa and Dhalai Bridge water treatment plants are nearing completion.
Similarly, Hakim was instrumental in securing funds from the state government to upgrade the KMC's drainage system. Over the past three years, the KMC drainage department has taken up several drainage pumping stations across the city. While the civic body has completed the Nawab Ali Park drainage pumping station in Ekbalpore to address waterlogging issues in the Kidderpore-Ekbalpore belt, construction of three other pumping stations in Taratala, Garden Reach, and Amherst Street is ongoing.
On Friday, Hakim expressed frustration that he will not hold the mayor's chair when his dream project—the Hrishikesh Park drainage pumping station—is inaugurated. "I decided to set up a drainage pumping station at Amherst Street to give residents of Thanthania, Sukeas Street, Amherst Street, and College Street relief from severe waterlogging. I was told that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, as the mayor of Kolkata, was keen to provide these residents relief from inundation. I laid the foundation stone of the drainage pumping station to pay my respect to the freedom fighter," said Hakim.
The outgoing mayor also cleared a proposal for the modernization of the city's only waste dumping ground in Dhapa. Hakim wrote to the state finance department for the release of funds to set up a new Dhapa where the huge waste generated daily from the city's 144 wards will be converted into wealth. "We have started several projects at Dhapa dumping ground to convert garbage into fertilizer, compressed natural gas, plastic furniture, etc. We have identified another chunk of land adjacent to Dhapa where we will take up more such projects," said a KMC official.
